Illuminated
by birdhymn
Summary: Things light. Things come to light.


Done via prompting by an anon, based on a post. The idea behind that post was that people would glow, when they met their soulmates. Me being me, I played with that a bit.

-0-

As far as you knew, your best friend had never lit up. Not for any crushes, not for friends. And maybe family, too. Whether her opinion about it (which the expression of involved a lot of ranting and muttering on her part about having a choice in the matter of who she spent her life with) played a part, you weren't entirely sure. But she hadn't. Which made you extremely glad that it'd been winter when you first met; the fact you'd lit up hidden beneath some thick ski jacket.

To you, lighting was more an indicator, a positive 'maybe you'd be a good friend' than a long-term guaranteed 'soulmate'. And she knew that. You'd never agree, but she knew where you stood on the matter. She knew, but still, you were wary of what might happen if she found out. Afraid. Irrationally, some voice that sounded a lot like her scolded, but you kept silent, and hidden it as well as you could.

It was a Tuesday. A Tuesday afternoon in the summer and you'd been staring half-dressed at an unexpected gift she'd gotten you-a boxed set of a show you liked, which you knew wasn't cheap-and you hadn't immediately tried to stop lighting up because, well, the colours were pretty.

And then she'd walked in. Taken in you with your shirt open and the gift in your lap and _known_.

She'd always been perceptive like that.

Her face had closed up, and she'd asked, in measured tones, for you to come down, that your mother had been calling for dinner. Then shut the door and walked away, instead of waiting for you. Which resulted in fumbling fingers when you tried to button up your shirt. You gave up after one. No point to hiding it anymore.

Your mum's face went from confusion to comprehension to reassuring when she caught sight of you. Or more likely, your face and your tank showing from between your unbottoned shirt. Without a word she reached out to you, and you stepped into the hug, breathing in her familiar scent, taking solace in it.

And then she'd directed you, after a little kiss to your forehead, to take your usual spot at the table. Right beside Weiss.

To put it mildly, dinner was a strained affair. Though mum talked enough for the both of you, thankfully, and Weiss, out of sheer politeness if nothing else, kept up the conversation with her. You were just careful to not look at her. Or touch her. Which was a bit hard with the steaks slightly rawer than usual, requiring a bit of sawing. Elbow bumping was a given.

Dinner done, mum had pinned you to your seat with a meaningful stare at you, then Weiss, not bothering to hide it. Given her claim of Weiss as honourary daughter more than once, that was probably intentional. And so you were left with her, every bit of you screaming to run, but settling for tapping out tattoos on the table while Weiss stared down at her hands.

Eventually she broke the silence. "How long?"

Caught off-guard by the suddenness of it, you answered with an extremely eloquent, "Huh?" looking at her before remembering you were trying not to. Your eyes flicked back down to your lap.

"How long have you been lighting?"

"…S-Since we met." It was a lot harder to judge her reactions when you couldn't see her face, but you were too afraid to turn and see.

"How did you hide it, then?" Confusion. Clear enough.

"Consciously fought it."

"And so you lied to me."

That, right there. There was her unreadable tone, when she was keeping her thoughts to herself. It aggravated you. "I didn't-I wasn't-I was afraid, okay?!" You were little louder than both of you liked, your voice sharp in your ears, so you breathed deep before going on. "I was afraid you'd leave me because you feeling I'm just following something I couldn't control blindly, and I had no way of knowing if you felt the same!"

Silence again, aside from the sounds of your mother moving about upstairs. Then the sound of Weiss' chair scraping against the the floor, and, with a lump growing in your throat and threatening to choke you, you scrunched your eyes shut to try and dam up the coming tears, to block out the sounds of her feet padding away, and the door opening and closing. The sounds of her leaving.

The gentle, cool hand caressing one cheek, naturally, was unexpected. You opened your eyes to sorrow staring back. "I made you afraid," she murmured. "I'm sorry."

"You couldn't have known," was your reply, a little dazed. "You-You're not leaving?"

A little smile appeared. "Typical of you, to not blame others. Of course I'm not leaving. Glow or no glow, you've been my friend a long time. My best friend. It just… helped us out, on your end. And besides-" here she blushed, a lovely look for her in your opinion, "I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me happy, that you liked me. And you looked… very pretty. Lit up. You always do, I mean, but just. Especially so."

A smile grew on your face, slow and sure, right along with the light shining from you. "I'm going to kiss you now, if that's okay?"

God she was so cute when she was flustered. Eyes darting about, taking you in, she eventually muttered, "I suppose that's all right."

So you did.


End file.
